Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by
What had initially felt like a punishment for her failures onboard the USS Viking, quickly edged towards delight as Kara Nakuto scanned the Leviathan’s duty roster - and saw a name she had feared lost to her forever, unless delivered on the tongue of a scoundrel like Grimshaw. But after determining the truth of the matter from Captain Cobb himself, the half-Klingon could not wait to surprise her old friend and colleague, John McHarrie.

And as luck would have it, the pair were now stablemates, so to speak, although while Kara herself had pulled back from specialising in the ultimate of dangerous anomalies, McHarrie, it seemed, had embraced the same challenge with open arms. Not that she would have expected anything less from him.

Still, as the Viking’s former captain and now Yellow-level Consultant rang the chime for McHarrie’s lab, her stomach churned with a mixture of excitement, anxiety and a distant sliver of fear that, to bring this pair together once again might also attract others in their wake?

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“Captain?” came McHarrie’s familiar Welsh tones from along the corridor as he himself approached the lab.

He was clearly surprised in a good way. “I didn’t think anything could persuade you to leave the Viking.”

He approached and then bowed as was tradditional japanese etiquette. He respected Kara greatly. Not only had she been his first CO, she had given him his first DH position and the challenges the Viking’s unique problems had put them through had led to a friendship also developing.

“Please come in,” he offered, not sure exactly what she thought of him after his last communication with her or whether their friendship would have survived following his own departure from the Viking.

-McHarrie

Nakuto returned the bow and followed McHarrie through the open doorway, then once over the threshold she grabbed him and, in a manner more fitting for a Klingon, pulled the Welshman into a bear hug.
“It is so good to see you again, John,” she roared. “After watching the footage, I was not sure if…”

There was no call to revisit the memory aloud, the image carved into Kara’s subconscious as indelibly as the experience was surely carved into his. However, she could not resist updating the Viking’s former CMO on the most recent turn of events.

“He came to visit us, on the Viking. To ask Ravenfall for a job.” She snorted out a laugh. “Peter Sigmundsson threw him into the brig. When I left he was still in there, although I am sure he will charm the Captain before long.”

The Viking. McHarrie’s words had landed right on target when he expressed surprise at her leaving. In truth it remained a surprise to her too. But stepping back from her old friend and taking in her surroundings for the first time, Nakuto allowed herself a few moments of wonder at both the technical and the biological marvels around her. It was universes apart from the dilapidated conditions on their former vessel.
“You seem to have landed on your feet here, John,” she complimented both the man and his laboratory. “I am truly happy for you. As for me, I have not earned such gifts. Not yet.”

She turned to face him once again, her expression instantly recalling her terrified demeanour on the Viking. “They are still out there, John. Ros and Guerin and…they remain trapped wherever that portal took them. I do not even pretend to understand why it let myself and Loki go free but still retained the others. But since my escape I have spent every waking moment studying portals and singularities and parallel dimensions. Which is how I came to be noticed by the ARU.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)